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New York Times puts gun control editorial on A1

It has been 95 years since the New York Times has placed an editorial piece on its cover, but for Saturday’s edition, the Times is breaking from its tradition of opinion pieces going on its cover.

The New York Times is running an editorial on A1 of the paper calling for strict gun control, in a piece that will surely anger gun activists who have decried calls for legislation.

The Times’ piece comes two days after the New York Daily News ran a controversial cover headline that read, “God Isn’t Fixing This.” The Daily News’ headline was referring to Republican politicians offering their prayers following Wednesday’s massacre that killed 14 in San Bernardino, Calif.

The New York Times’ piece is titled, “End the Gun Epidemic in America.”

“It is a moral outrage and national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency,” the piece written by the Times’ editorial board reads.

In it, the Times calls for politicians to ban weapons similar to the ones used during Wednesday’s mass shooting.

“Certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed for civilian ownership,” said the editorial. “It is possible to define those guns in a clear and effective way and, yes, it would require Americans who own those kinds of weapons to give them up for the good of their fellow citizens.”

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate failed to pass a pair of gun control measures. One was a bill to prevent individuals on the FBI’s Terror Watch List from being able to pass a background check. The second measure was to require buyers at gun shows and on the Internet to submit a background check. Both pieces of legislation nearly followed party lines.